Jazz's Bedtime Story
by Monica Moss
Summary: Josh is Jazz's son. He remembers the stories his mother used to tell of her dead brother, but he never actually dreamed the stories could be true until...
1. Nephew

Bedtime Story: 9 Years Later

Jazz smiled at her son as she told him a bedtime story. It was real, and there was more to what happened then she was about to tell him, but he didn't need to know that. He was, after all, just a child.

"Once upon a time," she said. "There was a little boy whose family worked in a mine in Alaska. They were going to harvest some rocks that would keep all the scary ghosts away, but one day, the little boy discovered that a big scary man who also worked in the mine didn't want to protect people from the scary ghosts - he wanted to control the Undead - ghosts, zombies, vampires, you name it - so he could rule the world."

"The big scary man was looking for a special stone that was in the mine that could create an army of the Undead, and the little boy's sister found out about his plan. The little boy's sister told her family, and the little boy knew he couldn't let the big scary man get the special stone. He didn't want the big scary man to get an army of the Undead and take over the world."

"Luckily, the little boy was a brave little boy. He went back to the mine where his family worked at night while everyone else was asleep, and found the special stone. The little boy kept the stone safe from the big scary man who wanted to rule the world and the big scary man never got it. The brave little boy was a hero!"

"What happened to the big scary man?" Josh asked. "Did he get in trouble for wanting to do that?"

"It doesn't matter," Jazz said. "The point is he didn't get to take over the world." She kissed her son on the cheek. "Now get some sleep!"

"Good night Mommy!" her son called as she reached his bedroom door.

"Good night Josh," she replied, and she turned off the lights. Closing the door of her son's room, she thought of the boy who'd really saved the world from being invaded by an army of the Undead made by Vlad Masters. "I'm so sorry, Danny," she whispered, with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Nine years later...

"Whoa! Look at this little tunnel - it looks like a good place to explore." Josh Hallows and his friend Jake Tremann were on a trip to Northern Alaska, accompanying Josh's dad on his trip to an obscure publisher. Of course, the boys just saw it as an opportunity to explore some caves.

The tunnel they'd just found was a bit away from the caves they were allowed to explore. This one, judging by all the wooden beams, wasn't so much a natural cave as it was a mine tunnel. It was also kind of near the location of the section of caves that was said to be haunted.

They didn't believe in such nonsense. Josh and Jake slipped inside the tunnel and looked around. It appeared that the tunnel went quite far into the mountain.

"Ugh," Jake said, looking at something hidden between rocks at the side of the tunnel. "Clearly, we're not the first ones to explore in here. Someone left a cracked thermos behind." He held up the thermos closer to his hat's light in order to inspect it. The thermos' paint was peeling away, but they could still see the letters F, E, T, and O on it. "Feto? What's Feto? Why are there buttons on this thing?"

Josh came over and touched the thermos. "Feto's no group I recognize, but this thermos looks like it's from the twenty-nulls. I think it's been here a while. We should take it with us anyways though. Litter's not a good thing."

Josh and Jake walked further into the tunnel. They saw some oddly colored rocks sticking out of the stone walls of the tunnel every now and then, but neither boy could tell what they were.

They were about thirty feet in when they felt the first tremor. "Was that what I thought it was?" Josh asked Jake.

"Yeah," said Jake. "We've got to get out of here before there's any more like those. This tunnel just might cave in!" The two boys ran for the mouth of the tunnel, but the second tremor struck and the ceiling started to cave in over them. The boys screamed and closed their eyes, knowing there was no way they could get to safety in time.

Someone grabbed them from behind, and pulled them back into the deeper part of the tunnel. After the tremor stopped, the voice of a boy sounding about their age said, "You can stop screaming now - the cave-in is over."

They looked again and noticed that they were clear away from the pile of rocks now blocking the way out. They'd thought they were too far into the collapse zone to get out, yet they were clearly not buried. How did that happen?

Turning to look behind them, they saw a teenage boy wearing old clothing, with his black hair dangling almost over his blue eyes. The boy wore only a T-shirt and jeans. He wore no winter clothing, and no spelunking gear. "I'm Danny, by the way," he said. "Danny Fenton."

Jake and Josh looked at each other. What was this guy's deal? How wasn't he dead? How did they know they could trust him?

"You know, if I wanted to harm you, I would've just let you die in that collapse," Danny said.

The boys got to his feet. "How did you do that?" Jake asked.

"I'm a fast runner," Danny said shrugging. "An introduction would really be nice."

"Uh, sure. I'm Jake Tremann and this is my friend Josh Hallows," Jake said.

"Aren't you cold?" Josh asked, suddenly, gesturing to Danny's clothes. "And why are you wearing those anyway? They look like something from my parents' high school days!"

"I'm fine," Danny insisted. "Really. So, anyone know you're out here in the haunted part of the caves? You really shouldn't be here, you know."

Jake and Josh exchanged a look as if to say, "Is this guy for real?"

"They don't generally send rescue squads this way," Danny continued. "It's too dangerous for the search and rescue teams."

"You shouldn't be out here either," Josh pointed out.

"Alright," Danny said. "I don't ask you, what you're doing here, and you don't ask me what I'm doing here. Come on - I'll show you around."


	2. The Insane Tour Guide

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* * *

**The Insane Tour Guide**  
**

Jake and Josh followed Danny deeper into the tunnel, and got to a cavern that branched out into many clearly artificial tunnels. The place was an abandoned mine. According to Danny, some ghost hunters used to come here to collect a rare substance called ectoranium that had the ability to hurt ghosts. The ectoranium was the odd green rocks neither of them could identify.

Josh caught hold off Jake's eye, and nodding to Danny, mouthed, "He's nuts!" Jake nodded and made the coo-coo symbol in Danny's direction. Although, they both had to admit that Danny was right about it being some sort of mine.

"So," Josh asked. "Why did they shut the mine down anyway?"

"It was too dangerous," Danny replied. "Many ghost hunters were really here in search of an ancient ghostly artifact that could force anyone to stick around as a ghost: the Phantom's Stone. It was rumored to be here in these caves, so when the first fatal accident happened here, they decided it was best to leave."

"Do you really believe these caves are haunted?" Jake asked.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked. "These caves are really haunted!"

So their new guide was convinced that there were ghosts in the cave. This was just another confirmation that Danny was absolutely bonkers. Josh and Jake were mostly quiet for the rest of the tour, and did their best to ignore Danny's occasional ghost-related comment. After Danny's assertion that the cave was haunted, there wasn't much they wanted to talk about with Danny. They did notice, however, that Danny left certain parts of the tunnel out of the tour, like the deeper parts of the tunnels and the fifth tunnel that branched out of the cavern. It was when Danny had finally finished the tour that either spoke to him again.

"I counted five tunnels back in the cavern," Jake said. "We only saw four. What's in the other one?"

"The other one?" Danny asked, suddenly sounding nervous.

"Yeah," said Jake, "the other one. What's in there?"

"Nothing!" Danny said, a little too quickly. "It's just a dead end. Or at least it is since the tunnel collapsed."

Josh and Jake looked skeptical. "Look," said Danny. "I just don't want anyone to go in there, alright? The last kid that went in there was killed."

"Let me guess," said Josh. "That kid's supposed to be the ghost that's haunting this place."

Danny nodded. "It sounds pretty crazy, huh? I know what you've been saying about me behind my back, and maybe you're right. I've been lost up here for months, and I gave up any chance of a rescue. It's possible months of solitude have messed with my mind."

"Months?" said Jake. "I guess they really don't send search parties here all that often."

"No, not really," Danny said. "We might be stuck here forever."

"Forever?" Josh asked. "But we can stay here. We've got to get home!"

Danny frowned. "I think it's time for a change in topic," he said. "So… Who's hungry?" He pulled out some an airtight container of dried strawberries that, when he opened it, looked and smelt pretty stale. "I promise they're still good."

* * *

Danny had insisted on standing watch while they slept that night, even though Jake and Josh were sure nothing could get through collapsed tunnels to get them. "What if the ghosts come?" Danny merely argued in response.

"Do you do this every night?" Jake asked. "No wonder why you're so nuts! You're probably seeing ghosts where there's nothing there."

"I'll be fine!" Danny insisted. "Besides, it's not like either of you would know what to do if a ghost did come, and someone's got to stand watch."

In the end, the only way they could get Danny to let himself sleep was to agree to take shifts watching for ghosts and to wake him if they saw anything unusual. This was why Josh found himself awake at some ridiculous hour in the morning, using Danny's lantern that put a strange green glow on everything to look at the tunnel. This would have to be the dullest and most pointless thing Josh had ever done in his life. Surely no one would notice if he went to sleep...

Josh was awakened by a deranged sobbing coming from up the tunnel. It was an unearthly sound, almost as if a banshee had come to the tunnel to lament a coming death. "Jake?" he whispered. "Danny?" Josh sat up. Jake was soundly asleep, but Danny had vanished, leaving his eerie lantern behind. After all Josh had seen of Danny's paranoia, that didn't make sense, but then he realized the wailings coming from up the tunnel sounded like his strange new companion. "There is something seriously wrong with that guy," he mumbled. Unhappily, Josh got up, and crept through the dark tunnel. He wanted to know what Danny would be up to wandering the tunnels without a light.

It was very dark in the tunnel. He could barely make out Danny's silhouette laying the tunnel floor and crying softly now, "Why me? Why me?" Danny then seemed to go back into a demented fit, banging his fists against the cold stone, and shouting at the unresponsive tunnel, "Mom! Dad! Don't leave me! I'll go insane! Insane, I tell you insane! Don't leave me!" Danny curled himself up in a ball. "I'll go insane," he whispered. "No, don't leave me. I'll go insane here on my own. Take me with you. Why me? Why me? I promise I'll be good."

Insane or not, Danny's fit had gone on long enough, Josh decided. "Danny," he called.

Danny looked startled, until he turned around and recognized Josh. He quickly went pale. "How much did you see?" he asked.

"Enough to know that you are in serious need of some mental help," Josh told him.

"I do need help," Danny admitted, not looking quite so fearful. "Badly. I've been isolated in these tunnels doing absolutely nothing to help anyone for way too long. I would have been surprised if I hadn't cracked."

"Come on back to bed. Sleep does wonders for your sanity."

"Good idea. You know, I've felt better than I have for a long time since I got you and your friend for company. I just wish I could've gotten you safely out of the way of that collapse by pushing you outside the tunnels - not getting you trapped in here like me."

"What do you mean?"

Danny crawled inside his sleeping bag. "Thanks," he said, smiling. "Good night." He pulled the edge of the sleeping bag up over his head and was silent.


	3. Uncle's Fate

**Enjoy the chapter (slightly) longer than the others.**

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Disclaimer: I do not own.

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* * *

**Uncle's Fate

* * *

_Flashback_

_He'd never met his grandparents in his life. Everyone in his class loved to visit their grandparents when they could, but Josh never did. Both of his paternal grandparents had died, but his maternal grandparents were still alive and he didn't understand why he'd never seen them._

_"Mom?" he asked one day as she was making dinner. "Can we go see Grandma and Grandpa?"_

_His Mom nearly dropped the raw eggs she was about to add. "No!" she said quickly and firmly._

_No? Why on Earth would his Mom not want them to see his grandparents? Every kid he knew got to see their grandparents. "Why not?" Josh asked in a slightly whining voice._

_His mom had recovered from her initial shock at Josh's question. "They live too far away, sweetie," she calmly explained. "We just don't have the money to go all the way to Illinois."_

_"Maybe we could save up the money!"_

_Josh did extra chores for a two weeks, hoping for a raise in his allowance. He'd saved every penny he'd got, and at the end of two weeks, he had two dollars and forty-three cents. Being young enough that he understood very little about money, he waited a couple long hours for his mommy to come back from work so he could show her what he'd made._

_The moment his mom walked in the door, he ran up to her with a great big grin on his face. "Mommy!" he yelled and threw his arms around her. He pulled out his money from his pockets. "Look Mommy, I have two dollars and forty-three cents. Now we can go see grandma and grandpa!"_

_Josh was scared the moment his Mom looked at his hand full of coins and frowned. "Very good Joshie," she said after a moment. "But it's nowhere near enough to get us all to Illinois."_

_But the young boy was determined to visit his grandparents. "That's okay Mommy," he said. "I'll just save more until we can all go see grandma and grandpa, even if it takes years and years!"_

_"Jazz," his dad said to his mom. "Maybe it's time to tell him the whole story."_

_"What whole story?" Josh asked. "When can we see grandma and grandpa?"_

_His mom sat down on the couch and put him on her lap. "You remember that story about the boy at the mine who saved everyone?" she asked._

_Josh nodded, wondering what that bedtime story had to do with anything._

_"The little boy in that story was my brother," she said," your uncle."_

_"Why haven't I ever met my uncle either?" Josh asked, no clue where the conversation was going._

_"Let me explain," she said. "Yes, he did save the world from being invaded by an army of the Undead, but there was more to the story. After he found the stone, he got caught in a tunnel collapse. He was dead by the time anyone knew what happened. Your grandma and grandpa were very sad at his death, but they thought the mine might be haunted, so they just left him there and forbade anyone to give him the respect of having a grave marker. They refused to see that he was still a hero, but I know my brother is. Josh, I never ever want you to meet them. It wouldn't be good for you."_

_Josh still couldn't understand why he couldn't meet his grandparents, but he did know if his uncle wouldn't have died, he would've been able to meet his grandparents by now.

* * *

_

"What? Why can't you show us where you keep getting all the food?" Jake asked.

"I just can't," Danny said. He pulled the eggs off the fire and scooped some on a plate. "Eggs?" he asked Jake, offering him the plate.

Jake looked like he was about to protest, but then decided against it. "Can't be too picky," he mumbled. "We're lucky we have food in this place at all."

Danny offered the rest of the eggs to Josh. Josh took the plate, but asked. "Aren't you eating anything?"

"I'm not hungry," Danny mumbled.

"Not hungry?" Jake asked. "But breakfast is the most important part of the day! You're already crazy, but you don't want to become malnourished as well, do you?"

"It might be a good thing he's got us stuck here with him," Josh said. "Tell him about last night Danny."

Danny shook his head vigorously. "I'd rather not," he said. "It's kind of private."

After breakfast, none of the boys knew what to do. They couldn't leave, and they didn't have anything they needed to do inside the tunnels to survive.

"So," Danny said. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," said Josh. "What do you want to do?"

Danny sighed. "We can't just sit around and ask each other what we want to do all day. Jake, do you have any ideas?"

"Well…" said Jake. "I guess we could tell ghost stories."

Josh shrugged. "That's better than nothing and it does seem kind of appropriate in a supposedly haunted mine."

Jake grinned. "Danny could tell us all about the ghost of that kid who was killed."

Danny looked startled. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I thought you didn't want me to say another word about ghosts and this place."

"It's just a story," the other two boys said.

Danny frowned at them. "It's more than just a story, but all right, here it goes... Once upon a time there was a family: a mom, a dad, a daughter, and a son. The parents were eccentric ghost hunters. One day, they heard about an ectoranium mine in Alaska."

"The parents knew that ectoranium had incredible ghost-repelling properties, so they contacted all their eccentric ghost hunter buddies and came here to the Brooks Range to start an ectoranium mine."

"Unfortunately, one member of the group wasn't there for the same reasons as the rest. He had heard that the Philosopher's Stone was supposed to be somewhere in the area."

Here Danny paused and glanced at the two other boys. "I'm assuming you've heard about the Philosopher's Stone? It's known for creating gold from base metals, and giving immortality to its user."

"We know what a Philosopher's Stone is," said Josh, frowning. "I think I've heard this story before, too."

"Really?" said Danny. "Well anyways, the Philosopher's Stone doesn't actually grant immortality; it just forces people to become one of the Undead when they die. The creep in the expedition wanted to use it to create an army of the Undead to take over the world."

"The family's daughter found out about the creep's true intentions, and alerted her family. The parents had heard of the Philosopher Stone's real abilities and knew they had to stop the scheme. Unfortunately, the guy looking for the Philosopher's Stone was also the guy funding the expedition, so they couldn't just kick him out. The family had to find the Philosopher's Stone first, and destroy it if they could, in order to prevent the guy using it to create his own personal army."

"The creep looking for the Philosopher's Stone built a specialized tracking device to locate it. The device found the Philosopher's Stone in a cavern that had collapsed, so he convinced some of the ghost hunters to start a fifth tunnel so he could get in."

"Luckily, after they broke through into the cavern, the device broke and the creep was stuck looking for the Philosopher's Stone by himself. The family knew it was only a matter of time before someone found the stone, and they could only hope the creep didn't find it first."

"Their fourteen-year-old son didn't want the creep to create an army with the Philosopher's Stone, so he snuck out of camp in the middle of the night and went into the cavern by himself."

"By some miracle, the son found it. He was so excited he was going to run back to camp and show his family, but he wasn't being careful when he was running down the tunnel, and knocked over a poorly placed support beam. The boy had unwittingly created a collapse, and he died trying to get out of the tunnel."

"The rest of the ghost hunters found him the next morning, mostly buried under the boulders. They couldn't do anything to get him out, so no one found that he was still clutching the Philosopher's Stone in his right hand. But his family suspected what he'd been up to and knew there was a good chance he was a ghost."

"His parents, believing all ghosts were compelled to be evil, were scared of what might happen if their son's spirit was allowed to roam free. They didn't look for their son's ghost because they didn't want to destroy their own child, but they refused to let his final resting place be marked so that their son would be tied to the area within two hundred feet of his remains in any direction."

"Although the parents had hoped they could avoid contact with their son by putting up herbal ghost repellents while packing all the gear in the area of the tunnels they could still get to, their son still came and found them. He begged them to take him with them, and promised he'd be good. He tried explaining what had happened, and why he was still around, but his parents didn't want to listen. They chased him off with the herbs."

"Later, his sister came looking for him. She had more faith that her brother was harmless than her parents did, and wanted to talk. She found him in a tunnel, crying."  
"He told her everything and promised that he would never let anyone take the Philosopher's Stone because it was too dangerous. He wanted to be good."

"They both knew, however, that if he was left there alone he'd go insane. His sister wanted to do something to mark his resting place, but the family left before she could. Now, the boy is still here, and the last ones who've seen him say he's cracked."

"Meanwhile, anyone who's heard of the fate of the Philosopher's Stone - humans, ghosts, whoever - can tell you that he'll do whatever's necessary to guard it. Even with all the ectoranium in the tunnels, he's a decently strong ghost."

Jake yawned, deciding Danny's story-telling skills weren't very good. Josh, on the other hand, was upset. "That sounds exactly like one of my mother's stories!"

"It does?" Danny asked, surprised. "Who's your mother?"

Instead of answering, Josh narrowed his eyes. "How dare you talk about that?"


	4. Guard of the Stone

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**2Belle26: Thanks! As for the Philosopher's Stone, the idea was around long before Harry Potter. Centuries ago, alchemists used to try to make a substance that turned base metals into gold, among doing other things. It was somewhat of an acceptable science (although they tended to mix it witchcraft). Immortality was also one of their pursuits. Eventually, a myth developed of the existence of a Philosopher's Stone (it has other names, for example when it's called the Sorcerer's Stone in the American English version of Harry Potter) that could turn other metals into gold, which was considered to be the purest substance in existence, and could grant eternal life for its user. So no, I didn't get the idea from JK Rowling's book, but like many other writers (including Rowling), I got it from the alchemists. However, I've never seen the Undead part anywhere - I came up with that twist on my own.**

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Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from DP is not mine.

* * *

Guard of the Stone

Josh spent a while mumbling about Danny and his mother's stories. He'd been so mad that he'd sent a punch flying at Danny's jaw. Danny, however, had easily dodged and ran off before the punch could turn into a full-fledged fight. Now, it was lunchtime and they hadn't seen Danny come back - nor did they know where he'd been finding food.

Then, Danny called softly from behind them, "Hi," he carried some recently re-hydrated vegetables and two canteens full of water in his arms. "I still don't know what I did, but I hope you're not mad at me anymore."

Josh mumbled a nasty name at Danny, and Jake whispered by way of apology, "He can get kind of crazy about his mom's stories. Although, this is the worst I've seen him get."

"Mom used to tell me that the boy in that story was her brother, before she got cancer and died," Josh mumbled.

"Oh," said Danny, understanding showing in his eyes and sorrow sounding in his voice. "That would … that would explain a lot."

Josh growled, "Go away!"

"He doesn't react this strongly to any other reminders of his mother. I think he just doesn't think he likes his uncle," Jake said. "Although I don't understand why."

"Of course I don't like my uncle!" Josh shouted. "You wouldn't like your uncle much either if he'd caused a rift in _your_ family."

"A rift in the family?" Danny asked. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Would you just get out of here?" Josh snapped.

"Okay," Danny said in an especially saddened way. He put the food down on the tunnel floor. "I'll go. No one still around ever wants me near them."

Josh did feel a little guilty as he watched Danny go. He hadn't meant anything by telling the story, after all.

* * *

Josh couldn't sleep that night. Faces kept popping into his mind: his mother, back when he was a child, Danny's face as he'd been told to go away, and the skeletal face of a boy buried under the rubble from the tunnel collapse in the fifth tunnel. The last one especially wouldn't leave him alone. He'd gotten the story from two different sources - at least part of it had to be true and he suspected the true part was that there was a boy killed there.

He sat up, and went over to Jake's sleeping spot. "Hey! Wake up!" Josh said, shaking Jake.

Jake rolled over. "Go away," he said. "It's not my shift Danny."

"I'm going to check out the fifth tunnel," he said, "and I'm taking the lantern. Are you coming, or are you chicken?"

Jake sleepily got up. "Can't this wait 'til I'm awake?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Chicken!"

"Alright, I'm coming."

The boys walked through the cold tunnels of the mine. They got nervous as they started to walk into the fifth tunnel, but they were both determined not to let the other boy see their fear.

Finally, by the eerie green light of Danny's lantern, they saw the dead-end created by the tunnel collapse. They looked down and saw a familiar face - Danny. Their first thought was as whether or not he could have survived another collapse in that tunnel, but then they noticed the thick layer of ice preserving the body. It looked like Danny had been buried there, corpse frozen, for years!

Josh reached out to touch the ice - just to be sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. He'd just felt the ice with his fingers when Danny appeared beside his body. Danny, however, looked a little different than before - slightly translucent and glowing. This new Danny was scowling and looking cross.

"What are you doing here?" Danny asked.

Josh and Jake jumped back. "You're a …" Jake started to say, but Josh finished his sentence.

"Ghost!" Josh screamed. Fight-or-flight kicked in for the boys and they ran as fast as they could away from Danny and the scene of death.

"Guys?" Danny's faltering voice called after them. "Guys?"

The boys ran deeper into the tunnels then Danny had showed them before they finally stopped running. "Think he can get us here?" Jake asked.

Josh was relieved to shake his head no. "I've never heard a version where the ghost could get further away than two hundred feet of his body."

* * *

When they awoke the next morning, they could hear soft echoes of terrible screams and sobbing. Danny's voice was whimpering, "Not again - don't leave me alone! Please."

Josh especially was trying to ignore the echoes. "I don't suppose they would've left any supplies down here, would they?" he asked casually.

"I suppose we'll just have to look," Jake replied. He held the lantern he'd somehow managed to hold onto the night before. "With this spooky ghostly light."

"…I'LL GO INSANE!" echoed Danny's ghostly cry.

"I think we're going to need some earplugs," said Josh. They ventured further down the tunnel, but instead of seeing supplies, they just saw signs of danger - rotting beams, loose rocks, and the like.

"There's nothing down here," Jake whispered. "We should go back up before we end up like Danny."

"Don't say that name," Josh mumbled.

"We can't pretend he doesn't exist. I don't think we can get away from his wailings in this place."

Another echo: "Don't leave me here alone! I swear I'll be good! How can you turn your back on your own family?"

As Danny's ranting finally winded down into a soft, yet persistent, sob, Jake and Josh finally had the quiet they needed to think.

"We need supplies if we're going to survive," Jake asserted. "There are none down here beyond Danny's reach. We're going to have to go back if we want to live."

"We still have no clue where the supplies are," Josh mumbled. "How are we supposed to get them without that ghost finding us and killing us?"

There was a silence in which both boys tried to think of a way around this problem. "Well…" said Jake "Danny supplied us before, right? Maybe he's not going to hurt us."

"Danny guards the Philosopher's Stone," Josh whispered. "And he caught us snooping around where it's at. He looked pretty mad last night."

It had grown eerily silent in the tunnels. Danny's fit seemed to have finally stopped. Both boys sat there for a while, trying to decide on a course of action.


	5. Ghost Masters

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Disclaimer: I own nothing from TV.

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Ghost Masters

Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash echoing through the tunnel. "What could that be?" Jake wondered.

"I don't know," Josh said. "But we're not going to go see."

"He's your uncle," Jake said. "Don't you think he'd go easy on you?"

"I don't know."

There were more sounds coming from up the tunnel, as though there were some sort of scuffle.

"Now, Fenton," a slightly nasally voice boomed. "Where did you hide the Philosopher's Stone?"

"I can't let you get your hands on that stone, Masters!" Danny shouted. "In case you've forgotten, I _died_ to stop you. What makes you think I would help you get the Philosopher's Stone now?"

Jake and Josh crept along the tunnel in order to get a peek in spite of themselves. Danny was being held by his collar by the ghost of a grown man. The ghost, Masters, smirked. "Why Daniel," he said, "I thought you'd never ask."

Masters turned until Danny could see Jake and Josh in the tunnel. The boy's legs felt like lead.

"Unless I'm very much mistaken, Fenton," said Masters, "that's your nephew and his best friend standing there. It'd be a shame to see them get hurt."

Jake and Josh, suddenly finding their legs again, ran away from the new, clearly threatening, ghost. They hid the best they could in the tunnel they were in, and Josh panted, "Now what?"

They ducked down quickly as a spooky red light came toward them, giving away the presence of a ghost. "Idiot, Daniel. Trying to go against me? As if he could win! Now, where did he hide that stone?" Despite his threat to Danny, Masters didn't seem very interested in hurting the boys -he was a little preoccupied looking for the stone.

"This isn't good," Josh said.

Jake frowned, thinking. "If Danny's not trying to stop him, then something must've happened. If he can put a fellow ghost out of commission, who knows what'll happen to us when he can't find the stone? But if Danny really is out of commission, then it's up to us to stop that creep. We should go."

They ran up the tunnel, and found Danny lying, literally, in a pile of ectoranium. "Guys?" he called weakly. He didn't look so well: very translucent and dim.

"We've got to get it off of him," Jake whispered. "He's our only chance."

Josh nodded slowly, thinking about Masters. There was no question which ghost was a bigger problem. "Agreed."

They took the rocks off of Danny. The ghost weakly pulled himself upright. He smiled at them. "You came back?" he asked, surprised but hopeful.

"It was you or Masters," Josh mumbled. "And you are family. I'm sorry about the way I've been treating you."

"Don't worry about it," Danny said, with a gleam in his eyes. He sighed. "Now about Masters… Listen, I can't take him alone. I need your help."

"But what can we do?" Jake asked. "We don't know anything about fighting ghosts."

"You don't have to," Danny said. "I've got plenty enough knowledge about ghost-hunting for all of us." When the boys gave him a skeptical look, he asked, "What? I came from a family of ghost-hunters. My parents hunted ghosts, and so do I."

"Right," said Josh. "Our family hunts ghosts."

"But if we don't have to know how to fight ghosts," said Jake. "Then what do we have to do?"

Danny smiled. "Do you still have that thermos you found?" he asked. "It's been modified to contain ghosts."

"Yeah, but it's broken," said Jake. "We thought it was just a piece of litter, to be honest."

"I can fix the thermos," Danny said. He took the thermos in both hands. A soft green glow came from the palm of his hands and slowly spread until it covered the entire thermos. There was a quick flash and the glowing stopped. He turned the thermos so the boys could see it. "To catch a ghost," he said, indicating a button, "unscrew the cap and push this button. To release a ghost, push this button here." Danny handed the thermos back to Jake, as good as new. "Think you could catch Masters?"

Masters came back before the boys could respond. "I don't know, but we're about to find out, aren't we?"

The ghost summoned a ball of pink energy to his hands. "Get down!" Danny said, pulling the two boys to the rock floor. The blast went sailing over them and through the tunnel. "I'll distract him. On my signal, catch him." Danny flew at Masters, forming his own ball of green energy to throw at him. Masters easily bounced the ball back at Danny with an ectoplasmic shield.

"Even with our powers at a lesser strength in these tunnels, I am still more powerful than you. Stop this ridiculous fight Daniel, and bring me what I seek."

"I can't let you have it Vlad," Danny said, "and you know it." He flew rapidly past Masters, sending a fist at his jaw. Danny gave Jake a thumbs-up and ducked the beam that came out the end of the thermos. Jake screwed the cap on in triumph.

"We did it!" Jake said amazed, but at the same time neither he nor Josh failed to notice that Danny looked weaker than ever - more like a blurry image projected over a dim light than an actual person.

"Danny, are you okay?" Josh asked.

"No," said his uncle. "It's all this ectoranium. It weakens ghosts, but I think I'll be okay."

Josh frowned. What could he do? Then he got it. "This will just take a sec," he said, pulling out his pocket knife. Josh ran to the fifth tunnel, and trying to ignore the fact that his uncle's body was still in there after all those years, he went to where the debris blocked the tunnel.

Daniel Fenton, he scratched into a rock. A hero in life and in death. Danny and Jake had caught up with him. Danny was blinking very hard, as though trying to keep tears out of his eyes. "A grave marker? That's it then - freedom." Danny put his hands forward. "Come on," he said. "Now that I can leave this place myself, I can get us all out of here."

"How?"

"I can phase us all through the walls of these tunnels and past the collapses."

"What about the ectoranium?" Jake asked.

"I'll be fine," Danny said, although it did not seem the ghost could take any more. "I'll be better when I'm away from this place. Look, do you two want to get out of here or not?"

Jake and Josh took their time to grab what little they had brought into the tunnels, trying to give Danny a little extra time to rest before they left. Soon though, they were flying head-first at a solid stone barrier. The boys felt very nervous flying at a high speed toward the debris, but it was over moments later. Danny slowed down and landed them at the park entrance, looking weaker than ever - now barely distinguishable from anything behind him even while they looked directly at him.


	6. Brother in Law

**Sorry for the brevity of the final chapter. There will be an epilogue!**

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Brother-in-Law

"The ranger station should have a phone. I'm sure you'll be fine," Danny said. Apparently, he'd lied about getting better after leaving the tunnels. He looked as though he was going to enter into Oblivion at any moment.

"I thought you said you'd be fine," Josh said, accusingly.

"I will be," Danny said. "It's amazing what a ghost can recover from. Just as long as I don't have to use much more energy, I should be back at one-hundred percent by tomorrow." He smiled at his nephew and his nephew's friend. "I'll be okay, I promise!" He sat down on a rock and faded out of sight. "I'll just stay here until I recover."

"Why don't you come with us?" Josh asked. "I'm sure my dad won't mind."

That earned a chuckle from his uncle. "Most people don't take too kindly to ghosts," Danny replied. "I mean, we're supposed to be really scary, right?"

"_My_ Dad won't take to kindly to a ghost? Nah – he's an all-weather liberal!"

After a while, they convinced Danny to tag along invisibly as they went to the ranger station and called Josh's dad.

Josh picked up the phone to call his dad. "Hey dad, it's Josh…."

While Josh was on the phone, Danny and Jake perused the brochures for a lack of anything better to do. It would've been of more interest if they hadn't been trapped in the park for all that time and were so close to leaving it. There were a couple of brochures about the trails in the park, and the wildlife, and a couple about protecting the environment at the park.

Danny was only a little more adventurous, using his ghost powers to explore drawers full of old brochures. It was then that he found something of interest to him. He pulled out a flier about a rescue mission in the mine he'd been trapped in for over a decade. Scanning it quickly, he whispered in amazement, "My parents didn't want to leave me there forever after all."

Once the phone call was finished, Jake and Josh thanked the ranger and hiked the brief distance to the entrance of the park to wait. Danny, they were relieved to see, was looking better than he had while they were in, and while they were just out, of the tunnels. In fact, he looked as well as he had when he had caught them trespassing into the tunnel he'd died in.

"We'll have to tell him what happened," Josh said. "I'm sure he'd like to meet you Danny. Mom told him a lot about you. To be honest, he still thinks you're another one of her stories, but he's going to find out otherwise, isn't he? Don't worry about being a ghost, it'll be fine."

It seemed an incredible promise to Danny, but the ghost stayed with the boys to wait for his brother-in-law anyways. Danny managed to pull a smile even after the suggestion and said, "Sounds great. Hey, maybe later… Well, let's just say there's some people I haven't seen in a long time."

"My mother's dead, Danny," Josh reminded him.

"Yeah, I know," Danny said.

All was quiet for a few awkward moments, the Jake finally broke a silence with a question. "What will you do about the Philosopher's Stone?" he asked Danny.

"I figured that if so many people know the general area where the Philosopher's Stone is hidden, then maybe it should go somewhere else." Danny gave them a secretive smile as he spoke.

When Josh's dad came, Danny was quiet so he wouldn't be detected right off the bat. Mr. Hallows was a short red-haired man with green-brown hazel eyes. "Boys!" he said. "Where have you been for the last couple days? Josh, I have been so worried. Jake, I called your parents and they're worried too! You should _never_ have snuck out like that."

"Yes, we were stupid Mr. Hallows," Jake said. "and we got ourselves trapped in an old abandoned mine up here…"

"...But you'll never believe who we found!" Josh said, finishing his friend's sentence.

Mr. Hallows was puzzled, and tried to think for a moment just who the boys could have found in an abandoned mine. "I give up," he finally said. "Who?"

Everyone just stood there looking dumb for a moment before Jake whispered, "Danny, that's your cue!"

"Oh, sorry," Danny whispered back. "Wait, maybe we should tell him who I am before I show myself to him?"

"Dad," Josh said. "Mom's brother was here. He took care of us. I want you to meet him."

Nothing happened for another moment, but Josh's dad looked a little worried. Jake whispered again, "Now it's your cue." Danny finally turned visible.

"Hi," he said shyly.

Mr. Hallows' eyebrows went up in amazement. "So it was more than just a story," he said. More than anything else, he looked relieved. "And I was worried about the boys' sanity for a moment there. Nice to meet you at last Danny! ... And thanks for taking care of Josh and Jake!"


	7. Epilogue

**And now ends this next generation story. Farewell!**

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Epilogue

_The frozen corpse, buried in the remnants of the tunnel, glared up at Maddie from its unmarked tomb. Very slowly, its mouth parted and its voice, rough and cracked, crept out of its throat. "Mom," it said._

_Already, Maddie could feel tears falling out of her eyes and her frame stating to tremble. Then, out of the corpse, rose a specter with the look of a madman. The spook, her son Danny, spoke and caused the entire network of tunnels and caverns to vibrate and echo back his words: "You did this to me."_

_She fled from the scene of the collapse, but Danny's spirit chased her beyond where he should have been confined. As she ran, she passed long-forgotten faces of those that had gone down to set her boy free from inside the mine in which he had died to save the world from a villain's scheme to create an army of the Undead._

_They wore a strangely blank expression, and Maddie realized with a jolt that they were zombies, made by the power of the Philosopher's Stone. They spoke to her as she passed._

"_Sorry, Mrs. Fenton, but we couldn't find your son."_

"_It was almost as though some supernatural force was dead-set against us getting into those tunnels."_

_Maddie kept running from Danny, looking for a way out of the infinite tunnels but there was none. The comments of those she passed became more and more troublesome._

"_We heard some strange noises, almost like a moan coming from inside the tunnels. It sounded like the tunnel was collapsing, so we got out of there."_

"_We found the entrance okay, but then there were these horrible shrieks. It sounded like the mines were haunted by some deranged spirit!"_

_Maddie literally crashed into the last team of hikers who had brought her bad news. Their eyes were rolled and they were drooling. The girl on their team started laughing insanely. "We found him Mrs. Fenton, but we didn't dare go in there. He was completely insane and too dangerous to approach. We told the ranger station, and they forbade any more trips into that place!"_

_While this female zombie was speaking, she was being surrounded by all the zombified search teams, and Danny had finally caught up with her._

"_Danny, Danny, Danny…." all the zombies chanted, egging the ghost on to do what he was about to do._

"_Mom," Danny growled. His eyes, blue in life, had transformed into a bright red color in death. She knew that this dream Danny – a ghost cracked from suffering in solitude for far too long – was going to hurt her. "You must pay for what you've done to me!"_

Maddie woke up from her usual nightmare sobbing. Her husband Jack, who shared a room with her in the retirement home, reached over from his wheelchair and patted her hand, the morning paper on his lap now forgotten. "It was Danny again, wasn't it?" he asked.

Maddie nodded.

"I'd too do anything to see Danny free and happy again," he said, voice full of regret. The years without Danny had given him a more serious and thoughtful mind. "I wish we'd never left him trapped in that place."

It was then for the first time after too many long years that in their waking moments they heard their son's voice. "Mom? Dad?" it asked. It was full of not insanity, but hope and warmth. Peacefully, Danny appeared in their room. He held, reverently, the flier they'd sent to the ranger station years ago.

"Danny?" Jack asked.

Danny nodded and hugged his parents. "You really don't mind I'm a ghost after all, huh?"

Maddie sobbed into her dead son's shoulder. "Oh Danny, we never should've left you in those tunnels. You must've spent way too long alone."

"It's okay Mom," Danny said. "I'm just glad you love me now. I feel really bad about what my death did to the family. I'm sorry about the fight between you guys and Jazz."

"Daniel Fenton, do _not_ blame yourself for that," his mother scolded him. "Your death didn't cause the fight. It was, ultimately, our stubbornness in the way we saw ghosts back then that caused the fight."

"Actually, I was hoping I could help fix the rift," Danny said. "It may be too late to bring Jazz to a family reunion, but her son has wanted to meet you for quite a while. He and his dad are coming to visit later today – after they finish sleeping off that long flight back from Alaska."

"Danny, about being a ghost," Jack said. "You can stay here if you wish, but if you ever wish to move on, Maddie and I have found a way around the power of the Philosopher's Stone. Just give us word and we'll help you. It's the least we could do for you after you stopped Masters."

Danny smiled. "I think I'd like that sometime. Thanks."

That afternoon, Josh and his dad came in the door, and found Danny and his parents waiting for him. And so, the family was reunited for the first time since the incident in the mines so many years before.


End file.
